The Ultimate New Zealand Roadtrip: The North Island Edition

Aoteoroa, Land of the Long White Cloud, God’s Own. New Zealand is known by many names, including ‘home’ for me. At least once in your life, you must do a North Island road trip. With gorgeous waterfalls, geothermic oddities, amazing beaches, snoozing volcanoes – the North Island is gorgeous, but it often plays second fiddle to the glory of the South Island.  What qualifies me as an insider? I’m a born and bred North Island… View Post

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Travel Bucketlist Goals: 3 meals, 3 countries, 1 day

Travel Bucketlist Goals: 3 meals, 3 countries, 1 day

For the longest of stretch of time, I’ve wanted to have 3 meals in 3 countries in a single day. There’s an air of romance about being able to slip between nations in search of delicious food, and the ability to pop between Switzerland, France and Germany was simply too hard to resist whilst exploring Basel. Disclaimer: My whole trip was supported by the Basel and Alsace tourism boards (thank you!) but this particular scheme… View Post

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Eating & drinking in Bordeaux

Eating & drinking in Bordeaux

Bordeaux seems to be going through a renaissance. 10 years ago it seemed to be a grimy port town that people knew of mostly for the ruby red elixir that makes the town infamous. With a mayor who realised the tourist cash they were missing out on, he set about rejuvenating the city and promoting Bordeaux as a destination within its own right. In my limited experience of the world, I feel it’s safe to… View Post

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Chateau Pape Clement – a dream experience in Bordeaux, …

Chateau Pape Clement – a dream experience in Bordeaux, France

We wove our way through the streets of Bordeaux, beginning in the Medieval Quarter all carved in butter stone, glimpsed occasional hard modern buildings which turned to suburban homes before giving way to rolling fields of blooming crops. As we turned the corner onto our destination, I excitedly clutched the boy as fields of vineyards heavy with grapes came into view, cart horses grazed contentedly and the crenelated Chateau Pape Clement appeared – our home… View Post

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Bordeaux, a surprisingly beautiful city break

Bordeaux, a surprisingly beautiful city break

Within 24 hours of arrriving in Bordeaux I declared to the world that I wasn’t returning to my beloved London, but staying forever to bask in the southern climes of France. I even announced it via a variety of social media, both personal and blog related – and we all know that’s a seriously serious statement. It captured my easy heart in a big way. Winding medieval streets, beautiful sunsets, quirky history, #pawned pavements, bouquet… View Post